Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Note: This review originally appeared in the Illinois Entertainer. By the way, the April issue of I.E. is now out, with Bruce Pilato’s cover story on Carlos Santana; an extensive list of year’s offerings at Record Store Day; my review of the new King Of Prussia CD; and my International Pop Overthrow - Chicago preview.

A few other things before moving on to Radio Ready review:

The 21st Chicago Underground Film Festival starts today at The Logan Theatre on Milwaukee Avenue and runs through Sunday, April 6th. For the full schedule of events and special parties, check out the Chicago Underground Film Festival website.

WXRT is holding its annual XRT/Coors Light Opening Day Live Broadcast this Friday at YakZie’s on Clark Street, within the ominous shadows of Wrigley Field. Morning DJ Lin Brehmer and news anchor Mary Dixon will serve as hosts, with live performances by Los Lobos, Sonny Landreth, and Tributosaurus. At 10:00AM, mid-morning DJ Terri Hemmert takes over the bash, which will also include guests Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins, comedian/sitcom star Jeff Garlin, and XRT’s own movie critic The Regular Guy.

And now on to Radio Ready:

Although the Midwest is well-known as a hotbed of power pop music, for some people that translates to Chicago and its impressive history of bands like Shoes or Cheap Trick. On Radio Ready: Wisconsin - Lost Power Pop Hits 1979 - 1982, indie label Cheap Rewards aims to give the Dairy State its due, and succeeds very nicely. Being a power pop compilation, most of these high-energy tracks deal with romantic relationships, but there’s a good variety of approaches within the genre.

“Don’t Run Away” by The Baxters was obviously influenced by The Raspberries, but The Pop travel back to the days of Gerry & The Pacemakers for the wistful “Wait A Minute.” Garage rock is well represented on this compilation by The Orbits’ “The Waiting Game” and “Lies” by The Dominoes. The Minors straddle the fence between punk and pop with “Another Stupid Love Song,” and Muscle Beach channels The Ramones while slamming the far right in its revved up political satire “Let’s Get Dumb.” Most of the bands on Radio Ready are probably long gone, but it’s interesting to hear Spooner’s “You’re The Lucky One,” knowing that its core members would go on to form Garbage with English vocalist Shirley Manson.

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.